Watching My Back
by serima
Summary: Alice has one simple goal in mind: get to the palace, say hi to Ace, spend the afternoon with Vivaldi, give the faceless Card of 5 a thank you gift, and get out of there before nightfall...all without running into Peter. Okay, maybe not so simple. But NOT impossible. Hopefully luck is on her side. I'd like to say that I'm not very proud of this...


**IT'S HERE IT'S HERE! IT'S FINALLY HERE! My first AlicexPeter story! :D  
>Just to let you guys know I have the basic story down, but I don't have any details down or stuff like that, so I'm making this up as I go. Sorry if it seems rushed or not thoroughly thought out. But my only 2 stories so far have been BloodxAlice, so I decided it was time to add another pairing. <strong>

**Summary: Alice has one simple goal in mind: get to the palace, say hi to Ace, spend the afternoon with Vivaldi, give the faceless Card of 5 a thank you gift, and get out of there before nightfall...all without running into Peter. Okay, maybe not so simple. But NOT impossible. Hopefully luck is on her side.**

**Begin the story!**

* * *

><p><strong>Watching My Back<strong>

'You can do this Alice. Just keep your chin up! I can do this!'

With her head held high, and a determined look on her face, Alice boldly stepped outside the doorway of the Clock Tower. She stood out there for about five seconds...

Only to quickly retreat back inside, slamming the large door hard.

'I can't do this!' she miserably thought, thumping her forehead against the door. The risk was too high, the day could be one of those freakishly long ones, and on top of it, she might not get away if she gets caught.

Julius poked his head out from his room. "Alice, if you want to go to the Palace, just go."

The Foreigner turned to look at him. "But if I do, I might run into Peter!" she gave him the 'duh' look. This made the Mortician frown. With a sigh, he shook his head.

His annoyance shot up a level when Gray and Nightmare crammed behind him to see what was happening.

"You can easily get rid of him. Besides, you've been putting off this trip for day's now." the Lizard pointed out.

"I know, I know." Alice slumped against the door. "It's just that if Peter catches me, then finds out I'm heading to the Palace, he'll go on this panic attack chanting, "Alice my lovey wovey love dove loves me!" She spoke in an overly dramatic impression of the White Rabbit. None the less, it made Julius's frown deepen.

Alice stood up, gripping the tiny present in her hand. "I'm just going to try tomorrow." she began her descent down the hallway.

Observing the girl as she passed by, he decided to take drastic measures. "Well if you don't go, then I should just send a letter informing certain twin boys that you're free today, and you might run into a certain tea lover." The action made her stop mid-step. Julius shot Gray a look. He took this as a sign to help out.

"Hmm...What's worse?" Gray asked, putting on a pondering face while holding his chin. "Try avoiding a stalker Prime Minister, or come face-to-face with a gun loving Mafia Boss." With Alice being frozen, he decided it was time for the kill. "Oh well." Gray gave a small shrug, and then started pushing his house mates back. "Better start writing that letter Julius."

The sound a shoes hitting the floor at a fast pace with a slamming door finale was like victory music.

* * *

><p>So far everything was quite. No Peter, no Ace, nobody. Alice exhaled a long breath. Hopefully, the day will be short, making it easier to get her task done. She patted her small apron pocket to make sure the gift was there. It was nothing too big or extravagant, but she hoped the Guard would accept it. She was pretty sure he was still alive.<p>

At last she finally came across the maze entrance. This was it. Her time had come to prove that she could be a master at hiding.

'Let's get it over with.' Were her final thought before she stepped inside. Just like usual, the maze was lush and green, red roses growing along the path. A few stray flowers were here and there, but they couldn't outshine the vibrant red of the roses.

When Alice couldn't resist any longer, her feet paused at a turn, leaned in to a rose and sniffed it. Its scent filled her nose, and she was filled with new confidence. She could do it.

Alice turned a corner, only to quickly dash back, peeking around the corner. There he was, yelling at some poor gardener. For what was unknown, but for whatever it was, apparently it wasn't worth killing that poor man over. Maybe he was learning.

She saw him turn his head, and she snapped her head back. Shutting her eyes, she prayed that he wouldn't head this way.

'Shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot!' She yelled in her head. Daring herself, she peeked around the corner again. A Guard of 6 was telling him something, but the White Rabbit looked less than interested. She huffed when he rudely shoved passed the Guard, and headed off in a different direction. Thank...God...

"Miss. Alice?"

The Foreigner let squeak but quickly covered her mouth. She whipped her head back and forth, hoping the stalker didn't hear her. He never showed.

When she looked to see who called her, she smiled.

The Guard of 5 of standing before her with a kind smile on his eyeless face. And yes, it was the right one.

She smiled back at him. "You're just the person I was hoping to see first." he blushed at this, looking startled. "Me?" he pointed to himself.

With a nod, she pulled out the little present from her apron. "I'm sorry it isn't big, but I wanted to thank you for being kind to me." She pushed the little box in his hand. It was about the size of his palm. After he un-wrapped it and opened it, he smiled.

Alice blushed, a bit embarrassed. "I'm sorry. I didn't know what you'd like, so I made some chocolate last night. I hope you like it."

The Guard laughed, taking a bite of the chocolate. "It tastes delicious Miss. Alice, and it means so much that you made it. But why go through all the trouble?"

"Because whenever I come here, you're the only one who talks with me like a friend. I enjoy that."

The Guard of 5 blushed a bit, his smile growing bigger.

* * *

><p>Creeping through the hallways, Alice never let her guard down, jumping at the slightest noise.<p>

'He could be anywhere! Behind a corner, in a room, or under a table!' She was very sure that White Rabbit didn't see her dash through the doors, but he was known to pop up when she least expected to. She wouldn't be surprised the moment she relaxed he'd take the chance to glomp her!

If it wasn't bad enough, she also had no idea where the Queen was. She had sent a messenger (the 5 of Hearts actually), saying that as soon as Alice could come; she'd love to spend the day with her.

Alice too had been missing her dear friend, so she was disappointed when she still hadn't found a servant to show her to the Queen. They didn't even have to know the exact spot, just as long as they pointed her in the right direction...

"Hey, Alice!"

The scared girl whipped around, relaxing a bit when she saw Ace waving to her from down the hallway running towards her. She smiled. At first she was happy to see him, but that quickly changed in a matter of seconds.

"Alice! Hey Alice! What are you doing at the Palace? Did you come to see the Queen? Or Mr. Peter?'

Horrified, Alice lunged herself at Ace, covering his mouth with both hands. "Are you crazy?" she whispered loudly. Once she removed her hands, he rubbed the back of his head and laughed, "A little. Is it that noticeable?"

"Not funny." She dead-panned. Taking in her surroundings, she grabbed his hand, and yanked him around a nearest corner. "If you must know, I'm hiding from Peter. But I am trying to find Vivaldi. So please keep it down." the Foreigner begged him.

Ace's smile never left his face. "Why are you hiding from Mr. Peter? Afraid he's going to jump you? Don't worry; I'll just take you on one of my adventures!"

"I'd rather not. But I am happy to see you." Alice tilted her head to look up at him. "Saying hi to you was on my list of things to do today."

Ace gave a small bow. "Why thank you! Anyways, if you're looking for the Queen, she's in the garden drinking tea. I'll show you!" he quickly grabbed her hand, pulling her in some random direction.

'Not good!' "Uhh...uh...Ace, why don't we just find a servant?" she asked him. Ace just laughed. "And where's the fun in that?"

"No fun, but it would be nice to see Vivaldi today, and not in the next two time loops." Alice remarked.

The Knight gave a shrug. "Fair enough." Without any warning, he snatched Alice up and over his shoulder, and began running. "Let's go on an adventure to find a servant Alice!"

"A-A-Ace! Please don't shout!" the dizzy girl cried.

* * *

><p>"Your Highness, Alice is here to see you."<p>

Upon hearing these words, Vivaldi looked up from her tea to the entrance. Just as the maid said, Alice was making her way down the steps, looking rather dizzy. Behind her a happy Ace followed with his arms behind his head.

"Alice! It's so good to see you again. We've missed you very much." She nodded her head to a seat beside her, but instead of taking a seat, Alice just looked around. It confused Vivaldi even more when the odd girl lifted the table cloth looking under the table.

"Alice dear…what are you doing?" The girl jumped up fast, looking quite embarrassed.

"Uh…I'm avoiding Peter…"

Vivaldi blinked slowly. "So…you're avoiding him by looking for him?"

So for the past 10 minutes Alice told her friend about what her goals of the day were and how the panned out. Vivaldi only interrupted once, but it was because she laughed at Gray's threat about Blood. When she finished, Vivaldi nodded her head in understanding.

"We've noticed how you act around him. We didn't think that you'd actually succeed" She lovely lady took a sip of her tea.

Alice gaped at her. "What do you mean? I can avoid him!"

Vivaldi patted her on the head. "You're so naïve it's adorable! Alice, White has rabbit ears. He could hear you a mile away. I'm amazed he didn't hear you in the garden. He must have been so concentrated on something that he didn't bother to listen to his surroundings."

This information made Alice blush with embarrassment. For the longest time she had always wondered how Peter could know whenever she was near. It never accrued to her that it was because of his freaking ears! His fluffy…fluffy ears…

'Snap out of it!' she mentally scolded herself. Her hands gripped her cup tightly.

A tingling feeling told her she was being watched. When she looked up she was surprised to see Ace smiling at her.

"What?" "…You were thinking about Mr. Peter's ears weren't you?"

'How does he do that?'

This sent Alice into a stuttering frenzy, her mouth opening and closing like a fish at times. Ace laughed at the sight before him, while Vivaldi gave him an annoyed look. "Ace, don't do that, it creeps Us out."

* * *

><p>"Mr. Peter! We're leaving now so come say good-bye to Alice!" Ace shouted out by the castle doors.<p>

"Ace!" Alice screamed, but quickly covered her mouth. Wasting no time she gave his jacket collar a hard yank, pulling through the maze as he energetically flapped his arms, laughing all the way.

"I'm making you walk backwards, how are you enjoying this?" Sometimes Ace worried her.

He looked at her his shoulder, giving her his trade mark smile. "I'm hoping the commotion will catch Mr. Peter's attention."

Her heart jerked, quickly letting go of his collar. "That's it. Find your own way to the Clock Tower. See you in 5 time loops." And with that, she left the Knight alone in the maze.

On her way back, she couldn't stop the feeling of accomplishment spreading through her.

"I did it." She said to herself. "I finally did it. I avoided Peter for a whole day, and not once did he see me!" The feeling was too great; she leaped into the air in victory. "Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!"

"You know if you do that people are going to think you're weird." A familiar voice said behind her. She screamed, whipping around, her face bright red. Ace laughed back at her.

"Ace?" "The one and only! I think…" the Knight seemed to ponder this thought, holding his chin. A thoughtful expression on his face.

Alice was dumb founded. "How did you get out of the maze so quickly?"

"Oh that's easy; I followed you! Now we can walk together!"

Alice glared daggers at him as he almost skipped past her. "I'm so happy." She hissed between her teeth.

So the rest of the way poor Alice had to deal with Ace's taunts of her hidden love for Peter, which landed him a red handprint and both cheeks. Soon enough, thanks to Alice, they made it to the Tower just as it switched to nighttime.

Once again her former happiness made her forget all the negative things she thought towards to lunatic besides her, and the smile that graced her lips was one to compete with the Cheshire Cat. Without thinking, she dashed away from Ace, yanked open the door, and shouted out loud, "Julius I'm home! And I feel so victorious-"The girl never saw it coming. She heard the dreaded noise before she saw a flash of red, colliding painfully to the ground.

"Alice my love! You're back my dove!"

Alice stared with her jaw opened at the obsessively happy face that smiled back at her. "P-P-Peter?"

"Hey Mr. Peter!" Ace called happily. Julius came out from his office, looking very pissed off. "Do you mind keeping it down?" he noticed Alice on the ground. "You're finally back. This man kept bugging me where you were all day."

"A-A-All day?" her throat felt dry. "But I saw you in the maze-"wrong move. Once the words slipped from her mouth, it looked like Peter might burst through the roof in happiness. Both she and Julius flinched as Peter went on a rant about his love and how she was finally seeing her true feelings for him.

With great force Alice was able to push him off. Standing up, she made her way to her room.

Ace laughed at Peter's almost non-understandable blabbering. "And to think I could've just told Alice that you were going to be out all day."

Alice felt like she was going to faint. He knew? He knew this whole fricken time, while he watched her tense up every time she heard a floorboard creek?

"Alice! Oh Alice I love you so much I can't wait for you to move into the Palace we'll live so happily together and have a son named Jack and-ALICE? Why are you banging your head on the wall? Is something wrong? Alice? Alice love?"

"Leave me alone!" the poor girl sobbed.

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><p>…<strong>That…was horrible….that turned out so badly….I apologize….I just ran out of ideas...but I promised Crescent Moon Suicide that I'd have it up….and the ending was so rushed…I-I'm not proud of this….I'd like to be put on the record saying that I could've done better…..<strong>

**I PROMSIE TMHD will never get this way! **

**So anyways…uh….read and….you don't have to review this…**

**~serima**


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